


Absent

by washiwashi



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, arisa is having some sad moments, help me i cant write, i literally dont know what im doing help, i love kasuari sm ok, kasumi is having some sad moments too sorry, kasumi is narrating!, mainly popipa, the other charas are only there for like two seconds probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-17 00:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20611721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/washiwashi/pseuds/washiwashi
Summary: Kasumi Toyama underwent some drastic changes in middle school that forced her to change her outlook on the world and herself. Now in high school, the girl finds herself wondering about a certain girl, a proclaimed “ghost”. What will happen when Kasumi clashes with this mysterious girl?-[this summary is subject to change as the story continues!]





	1. Invisibility

**Author's Note:**

> hi umm,, this is my first ever fanfic so its probably gonna majorly suck!! i am so sorry!!!! this was originally an assignment i did for a creative writing class but i decided i would take the chance at posting the first part to ao3 to see if it garners any success at all,, i hope you all like it! also the chapter kind of leaves off a weird ending bc that was all i had time for in class to do and i didnt feel like branching off anymore since this assignment is sort of old if that makes sense haha,, i tried,,,, i just love bandori so much Pl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kasumi thinks about the empty chair and table next to her.

I walk into the classroom. Everyone is there in their wooden seats with wooden tables. They all sit straight and don’t bother to look at me when I walk in. The professor stands at the front of the room behind the desk in front of the chalkboard. I walk to my empty wooden chair and sit down, slinging my backpack across the chair. I sit up straight and focus my gaze on the chalkboard, not trying to notice the other unoccupied chair right next to me.

The chair is always empty. Always waiting for someone, anyone to sit in it. The wooden table and the wooden chair. Covered in a thin sheet of dust, the sunlight focused right on it. The sun’s light never shines anywhere else but there. It only shines on the empty wooden desk and chair, right by the window. The chair is always empty.

People talk. And they often talk about her. I’ve never met her before. The one who never comes to school. The one who is like a ghost. The one who is invisible. No one knows why she doesn’t come to school. Everyone says she’s pretty, with light brown pigtails with curls spinning at the ends like ribbons. With beautiful eyes that look like they’re made out of gold. Everything about her is supposed to be pretty except for her smile because it doesn’t exist. She always wears a foul expression, as if you’ve just thrown up in front of her. But I guess that relates to her name. Arisa. It means ‘there is sand’. No one likes sand. It gets stuck on you and you can’t get it off and it gets everywhere and you can’t clean it up. Maybe no one likes Arisa.

Today at school everyone said Arisa was coming to school tomorrow. One of Arisa’s friends who isn’t a ghost and comes to school saw her over the weekend and was told Arisa would come to school. I hope Arisa will come. I want to see her and see if her descriptions match up to who she actually is. I want to see if she’s mean and pretty. I want her to sit in the sad wooden chair and wooden table that always captures the sun’s light. The wooden chair and wooden table right next to the window. I want the wooden chair and wooden table to be happy that someone is finally sitting in it.

“Invisibility,” said the professor at the front of the class behind the desk in front of the chalkboard. He wrote the word in capital letters in clean white chalk on the board.  
“The definition of invisibility is the ‘inability to be seen’.”

The professor goes on, but I begin to tune out the words and turn to the chair, wondering if Arisa is sitting there and has been all this time, she's just unable to be seen.


	2. Tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kasumi gets lost in her thoughts as she tries to pass the time until tomorrow.

I stare at the empty seat for what feels like minutes, but soon turns to hours. Class by class, I just spend my time focusing my gaze on the sun-ridden, unoccupied wooden desk and chair. I tune out the wise words of professors and use my energy to think about her. I’m glad that the time moves so fast because I can’t wait for tomorrow when she finally might come to school.

No, not might.

She _will_ come to school.

She will come to school and place herself down in the chair and put her hands on the table. She will fold her hands and rest them on top of each other and sit up straight. She will make her foul face but still remain beautiful. Her light-brown curls will sway back and forth and the light will focus on them and make them so bright and dazzling that not even the sun can rival their shine. Her golden eyes will pierce into mine, looking through my amethyst ones and hopefully she will see, with just that small but powerful bit of eye contact, how much I have wanted to see her and be in her presence.

The image of her feels so real and so in-tact that I can barely stop myself from picking up my folded hands and softly placing my fingertips on the imaginary Arisa’s cheek. As my hands begin to rise from their resting place, the school bell sounds. It startles me from my daydream. The imaginary Arisa immediately snaps out of existence and my hand loses its will to remain afloat and flops on my table. Now all that is left next to me is the wooden chair and the wooden table. The sad chair and table that will soon leave its sadness behind.

I hope that along with the table and chair, I too will be able to leave my sadness behind when tomorrow comes.

My classmates begin to file out of the classroom, so I quickly pack up my things and follow behind them. Just as I walk out the door of the classroom, a voice forces me to stop in my tracks.

“Hey, Kasumi!” calls the voice cheerfully. I swing my head behind me like an owl and see the voice belongs to Saaya Yamabuki, one of my classmates. Saaya smiles and motions for me to walk over to her. I hum in response and make my way to the far-left corner of the classroom to where Saaya is standing. I notice that Tae, or better known as O-Tae, is standing next to her, looking like a skyscraper compared to Saaya. Once I finish shuffling to where they are, I look into Saaya’s deep sapphire-coloured eyes.

“Did you need something, Saaya?” I ask peacefully. My voice shows no sign of emotion, which is pretty normal nowadays.

When I was much younger, before middle school, I was always much more energetic and less observant of my surroundings. I guess you could say I was an almost carbon copy of a current student in my grade, Kokoro Tsurumaki from Class 1-C. That girl’s energy never seems to deplete… but I’ll get into that sometime else. Anyways, I basically just did whatever I wanted, always with a smile on my face, always with countless amounts of energy, not worrying about anything except making sure that I was happy. Once I reached middle school though, everything changed and I became the opposite. I don’t really want to explain why that happened; let’s just say I realised the faults in the way I acted. Although I prefer to act the way I currently do, it was much more fun to act like my previous self. I’ve found that my dominant personality still remains the energetic persona though, as I sometimes let my energy get out of control and I revert back to how I used to act… I usually regret it afterwards.

I’ve worked hard to change my personality. I’ve tried to become more like the stoic and serious Chisato Shirasagi and Sayo Hikawa, from Classes 2-A and 2-B respectively. I don’t want to be known as the overly-energetic, rampaging Kasumi Toyama from Class 1-A.

_...right?_

It’s better this way, right?

“H-hey, Kasumi?” says a voice. The level-headed, dazy voice helps pull me back from my thought spiral. I blink my eyes once or twice and look to the owner of the voice, O-Tae.

“Huh? Oh sorry, I’ve been feeling a bit… tired,” I say, hoping that they believe my fib and don’t press further.

“It’s no problem, Kasumi! Try to get more rest if you’re feeling that way,” says Saaya. She looks into my eyes with a motherly gaze.

“Y-yeah, I will. Sorry. What was it that you wanted?” I ask, regaining the last bit of consciousness I was missing.

“Well, O-Tae and I are hosting a small get-together at the Bakery tomorrow for all the students in Class 1-A. I was wondering if you were interested in attending?” responds Saaya. She finishes her sentence in a soft smile. O-Tae smiles along with her. “There will be complimentary treats,” Saaya adds. I take a moment, trying to articulate the right words in my head.

“That sounds super fun, thank you for the invite. I’ll try my best to be there,” I say. I end up smiling just like them as I finish getting out my words.

“Amazing! We’ll see you there!”

And with that, Saaya and O-Tae exit the classroom, both waving slowly at me as they turn to open the door.  
As I leave the classroom a couple moments after them, I wonder if they’ll let me bring Arisa to the event with me.

She’s coming to school tomorrow, and she’s a member of Class 1-A, so there’s no harm in her tagging along.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY THERE EVERYONE!!!! thank you soso much for the positive responses on the last chapter!! i appreciate all the comments and kudos so much and i am so glad that people like my writing <3 sorry if the narration on this chapter seems a bit different, i wrote this chapter earlier today and the first chapter was written in like november of 2018 haha! hope you’re all excited to see how the next chapter progresses!!


	3. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kasumi spots someone as her and her sister go out for ice cream.

I walk into the kitchen to put my plate in the sink. I had just finished eating dinner, which was comprised of a bowl of rice topped with shredded meat, one of my favourite meals. Suddenly, a being creeps out from behind the shadows and decides to jump on my back.

“Wah!” I cry out, as I feel a sudden increase of weight on my back. I hear a devilish laugh spill from the mouth behind me. I turn my head back and am faced with a girl whose face is identical to mine. We have the same chocolate brown hair and amethyst coloured eyes. The only differences between us being that her eyelids are droopy like melted ice cream and her hair is sharply and raggedly cut, reaching just above her shoulders. The girl smiles at my frightened expression.

“Aa-chan, please don’t scare me like that,” I scold, but a smile forms on my face as I get out my words. Once again, the girl--otherwise known as my younger sister, Asuka--is amused by my words.

“Onee-chan, can we go out to get ice cream?” she asks as she jumps off my back, releasing me from her weight. I give her a doubtful look and she returns it by looking into my eyes pleadingly.

“Please, Onee-chan!” she says, this time punctuating her words with even more emotion. I sigh and look at the watch wrapped around my arm, it is still pretty early and I had completed a majority of my studying…

“Fine…” I say, a large grin taking shape on both of our faces. “But be quick, okay!” I punctuate my sentence with a wink. Aa-chan grunts and nods happily. I too am happy, happy about the fact that I agreed to go once I see how gleaming and dazzling her smile was.

We grab our jackets and embark on our journey to the ice cream shop. It’s only about a fifteen-minute walk away, so there’s no need for cars. Our parents are busy working, so we just go by ourselves.

The evening’s air is sharp, and the sun is beginning its descent below the horizon. Fog can be seen rolling over the faraway hills slowly. As Aa-chan and I walk, everything is silent—minus the mild sounds of birds chirping and every now and then, the slow roll of a car’s tires down the road. The silence is broken when Aa-chan poses a question. A big question. Quite possibly the biggest, most important question someone could ever ask me. It is a question that no one has dared to ask for years…

“Hey, Onee-chan… how come you changed?”

Aa-chan stops walking as soon as she starts her sentence. She stops, right there, in the middle of the sidewalk. Hanging her head, she looks down at her shoes.

I begin to speed up in contrast, hoping that we will reach the ice cream shop before I have to answer the question. It is a question whose existence I have feared. I decide to cling onto a small bit of hope, hope that Aa-chan doesn’t mean what I think she means…

“U-uh, exactly what change are you referring to, Aa-chan?” I can see the ice cream shop coming into view, and I speed up even more, taking even larger strides. Aa-chan begins walking again, and I can feel her struggle to keep up with me.

“Onee-chan…” begins Aa-chan. Her voice is filled with some emotion that’s hard to pinpoint… maybe… sadness. She knows how much I don’t want to answer her question, but she decided to pose it anyway. I can hear a faint sigh, and she continues, “wait up, please,” she says, calmly. Since she asked so nicely, I can’t really refuse… right? So I pause in my tracks, only about three metres away from the ice cream store’s entrance. Aa-chan reaches me, and strides past me. She reaches out her arm to open the store’s door, but I quickly grab it. Why? I’m not sure… but now Aa-chan is looking back at my in a flurry of concern and surprise. I stare at our hands, mine tightly gripping hers.

“D-did you need something, Onee-chan?” asks Aa-chan. I take a moment to form what I want to say in my head.

“You already know the answer.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Answer to what, Onee-chan?”

_“You asked me why I changed, Asuka. But you already know the answer.”_

I make sure to emphasise my words, hoping my point reaches her.

\---------

Aa-chan and I sit on a bench outside of the ice cream shop, each of us holding a waffle cone with two scoops of ice cream inside. The bench is facing outwards, towards the hills and the horizon and the sky has been turned into a swirly mess of blue, pink, purple, and yellow. All the clouds seem to have vanished into thin air since the sky is so clear it seems nothing can disrupt its peacefulness.

Aa-chan hasn’t spoken to me since I answered her question before we went into the ice cream shop. I haven’t tried to initiate verbal communication either… ever since my change, Aa-chan and I have had many more awkward moments—like these—than before. We sit in silence for a couple more moments before I get up.

“I’m gonna go get some napkins, do you need anything, Aa-chan?” I ask. I hope she responds with words, but she just shakes her head and keeps focusing on her ice cream. I hold in a sigh and open the door to the ice cream shop.

I notice a girl waiting on the inside, and as soon as I pull the door my way, she carefully strides out. She has two long, golden-brown pigtails swinging beside her head, reaching to just above her shoulders. The pigtails have a single nice curl at the bottom, looking almost like ribbons. Two black, X-shaped pins rest on a strand of her caressing each side of her face. Her eyes are looking towards the sunset, and they are so clear and beautiful that you can see the sky’s reflection in them.

“Thanks,” she says simply, not even casting a glance my way. It feels like time has been slowed down as she glides past me.

I quickly respond with, “Yeah, no problem.” I am so dumbstruck that I almost forgot to say something.

And before I know it, she has already vanished and I’m still standing in front of the ice cream shop, holding open the door for no one in particular, looking like an idiot.

That sight… it felt… familiar.

It could not have been her…

It couldn’t have.

...

_Right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im pretty sure this is the longest chapter so far, which is sorta funny considering i didn't originally plan on writing this type of chapter. sorry for the long wait!! as always, thank you for all the support<3


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